Spin-Off Concepts
A list of spin-off concepts that were considered for Charmed. This list only includes ideas which producers, actors and/or networks voiced an interest in. During the Show's Run Mermaid ]] After the success of season 5's "A Witch's Tail, Part 1", executive producer Brad Kern proposed a spin of series of ''Charmed entitled Mermaid. It was written and filmed in Miami. The series plot is centred on a mermaid, Nikki, who is rescued by a young man when she washes ashore in Miami. Her savior, Matt Johnson, is a lawyer living with a roommate and engaged to the daughter of his boss. Initially, he is in utter disbelief of Nikki's nature, until it is proven true. According to the series mythology, mermaids are a race of creatures whose evolution took place underwater. The mermaids originate from a sunken city and have supernatural abilities, including superhuman strength and agility, as well as being able to see in the dark, read emotions and have a connection with other sea creatures. However, another race of creatures who began their existence underwater, but have since adapted onto dry land, include Eric Luger who is hunting Nikki. Nikki, meanwhile, attempts to enact a normal life by working as a waitress at a local restaurant while living with Matt and his roommate. She begins assisting Matt in his attempts to help people: as the villainous Luger assesses, mermaids are drawn to protecting the innocent, it's "in their blood" (much like witches). During the casting process, Kern "looked in London and New York and New Zealand, Hollywood, Florida, Melbourne and Sydney" and, after interviewing around 300 people, discovered "a fresh new face" in Australian Nathalie Kelley who played the lead role of Nikki. Geoff Stults was then cast as Matt, and Roger Daltrey as principal antagonist Luger. Brandon Quinn, who later went on to play Homeland Security Agent Murphy in Charmed's eighth season, played Matt's "goofy best friend" in Mermaid. Quinn spoke of his roles in both series: [In Mermaid] I was the party man...in the pilot, I had no job; I was a permanent bachelor. And when Brad Kern told me about Murphy, he was, like, 'He's a Homeland Security agent, he's 180 degrees opposite from what you played in my pilot this year, but I really think you could do it.' And I was, like, 'Wow, thanks for trusting me with Agent Murphy.' Additionally cast in main roles were Ana Ortiz (who went on to star in Ugly Betty) and Beatrice Rosen who, along with Quinn, developed a recurring role in Charmed's eighth season as Maya Holmes, an innocent whose image Piper Halliwell inadvertently uses as her false identity 'Jenny Bennett'. The pilot was considered to have a good chance of being picked up, but when The WB and UPN merged into The CW, the resulting network passed on the show. Speaking on the failure of the series to be picked up, Kern also revealed that the studio Paramount/CBS "decided at the last second to cut the budget in half", which resulted in the number of shooting days to be reduced, thus decreasing the quality of the pilot in being able to "'sell' the concept". Post Season 8 Concepts Billie When the WB requested that Charmed return for an eighth season, they did it on the condition that 'new blood' was introduced into the series. In response to this, Brad Kern introduced the character Billie Jenkins (portrayed by Kaley Cuoco) into the show's main cast. Well aware that the eighth season of the show would be its last, Kern voiced that he was very interested in the idea of a spin-off centered around the young witch Billie to follow on from the series. Fans were very much split when hearing about this idea due to the critical response Billie's character got from viewers (a lot of which was very negative). The original idea was to include Billie's sister Christy Jenkins as a supporting character; intending to redeem her at the end of the eighth season, however Christy was killed off once it was clear that a spin-off wasn't going to happen. This, like the other spin-off ideas, was dropped before it began- when asked about it towards the end of the eighth season run, Brad Kern stated: ::"There was talk early in the season but again, lately, I've heard nothing from the network one way or the other. We're still a strong show for them which is why, in the ideal world, I think they'd like a spin-off. We'll see." The network never voiced any interest in the idea and it ended there. Piper Brad Kern stated in an audio commentary that at the beginning of Charmed's eighth season, three suggestions for who would be the central actor(s) for a potential post-Charmed spin-off were discussed; one of which was actress Holly Marie Combs. Although this was discussed a lot at the start of the show's final year, the network went on to lose interest in any of the spin-off suggestions made for 'Charmed', so this suggestion, along with the other two (Charmed Sons and Billie) were never taken any further. Fan Advised Charmed Sons/Legacy After the success of the season 6 episode, "Chris-Crossed", a website was created which demanded the creation of a spin-off about the two Halliwell brothers, Wyatt and Chris, in their adult lives. Fans gathered on the forum, donated to get themselves advertised through bill-boards, adds in magazines and huge posters, placed before the Paramount and Spelling studios. Through their advertising, they got in contact with Wes Ramsey, who portrays adult Wyatt. He supported the website and wrote them occasionally. He liked the idea very much. Brad Kern was told about this site once in Charmed Magazine, but he said they (the writers) couldn't do much about it, as it was the network's decision. The WB, after hearing from this idea, said that they weren't interested as they already had a series dealing with two brothers who hunt the supernatural, called Supernatural. The site still tried however, and continued their campaign. However, when Charmed ended a couple of years later, so did the campaign. The site does not exist any longer, and the board has been closed and is on indefinite maintenance mode, waiting to be deleted. Still, the idea of a Legacy future spin-off for Charmed, primarily involving the two brothers but also including the rest of the Charmed Ones' children as revealed in the flash-forward from the finale, is strong within the fan community, as some custom opening videos and many fan fiction stories have surfaced dedicated to the concept over the years. Category:Out of Universe